Beyond Beauty: Planning for Success and Business in the Metaverse

This year I had so much success because I did not stray from the plan I have in place. Because, you know, like, you can just, every day you could find something new, someone could contact me, this great marketer, like, I could. I'm like, this sounds interesting, let me sign up. It's like, no, we're sticking to the plan that we have in place. Like, for this year, my main goal was I want to be accredited and credentialed to do Medicare because, you know, like that medical hair loss market is really big and people don't even know this, but wigs is considered durable medical equipment. So typically private insurances, Medicaid, they all pay for wigs for someone that has a diagnosis of medical hair loss. So I'm like, I need to make sure, you know, like, people don't even understand that it's crazy. So I'm like, I just want to, you know, just get more into that, become credentialized so than anyone, like, even if someone has like Medicare, they can come and get a wig. That was, that's very important to me for this year. My main goals, I'm going to stick to them. And this is the first year, honestly that I've stuck to. I haven't added anything new and I don't care if it's like someone says, hey, I got this idea and we can make 2 million. Sorry, not right now.

Hey.

Hey.

I am feeling so dang grateful today because I have just had some of the best conversations lately with people who are joining us here on the Right on Time podcast. And today's conversation that we have teed up for you is no exception. I have a feeling you too just might fall in love with Nakia Laundi. She is a hair augmentation specialist and the founder and CEO of Intriguing Hair, a one stop solution for women from all ethnicities wanting to purchase high quality hair pieces and wigs. The conversation that we are going to dig into feels really special, feels really incredible because Nikia is powerful business owner with an incredible vision. She is talented. She runs her businesses in unique and innovative ways which you're going to just get a teaser into today. With over 18 years of experience, she specializes in artificial hair integrations, extensions, hair loss, hair pieces, wigs and non surgical hair replacements. She has a BA in organizational leadership from Charter Oak State College, received her cosmetology certification from Blaine Beauty School. She's a member of the American Hair Loss Council, a board member of Madison Park Vocation and school mentor at Fairmount Innovation Lab, Business and beauty consultant and she is currently starting her next venture, a cosmetology and aesthetic school. And as you hear about how she is designing her school, the cosmetology and esthetic school, you might get some ideas. You are likely not in the cosmetology industry. Maybe you are, but I think the majority of our community is not in the cosmetology industry. And I want you to listen in for things that might inspire you to do some things different in your business and in your life today. Again, this is Nakia Landi. You can find her at intriguinghair.com and at intriguinghair on the various social media channels. This is a beautiful conversation. Definitely. As we get to the end of it, tag me in on instagram @amber McHugh or give us a review in the comments to let us know what you thought about it, because I cannot wait to hear your thoughts. I hope you love this conversation as much as I did. Hey, Nikia.

Hello.

Thank you for coming to chat with me today.

I'm super thankful that you invited me. I'm excited to talk about my business journey.

Yes. Okay, let's start there. Tell us about your business and how you got started here.

Well, I basically sum it up as that we help women look and ultimately feel their best to exude confidence. Right now, I would say that most of our customer base are people that I say have maybe, like, hair challenges, you know, so we have a lot of women from all ethnicities experiencing a medical hair loss. They might have alopecia or going through cancer. So you usually have like, some emotional toll. Like, you know, they just want to look how they normally look before they lost the hair. I also have a huge sector of trans women that come to me, so, you know, they might be transitioning, like, from the beginning. So it's a whole new thing of figuring out who this new person is. And then I also, I service a lot of African American women. And a lot of times, you know, right now, especially in the African American community, especially with, like, relaxers, and now women are now more comfortable wearing their natural hair. So I feel like I'm talking to a lot of people. I have a lot of customers that are going through hair challenges and just trying to, you know, feel confident and more feminine again, you know?

Wow, this is incredible. I wasn't even thinking about some of the audiences and the communities that you serve. This is so beautiful. And how did you get into this space?

Well, I will say that it's been. I guess I always feel like I'm in the business that I'm Supposed to be in, if you ask anyone that knows me, is like you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. I remember like at 4 years old I'd be like in the bathroom always messing around with my hair. And I've always like adding color and like adding different things. Like I started wearing hair extensions pretty like early, like maybe like 12, which is kind of crazy. So I've been importing here since I was like 17, like from India, which is crazy. And then I went to cosmetology school. And interesting thing about that is I kind of didn't know what I wanted to do. I was like, I like to do hair, let me start. So I went to cosmetology school and the first place I interned happened to be just coincidentally a hair augmentation studio. So they dealt with just non surgical hair replacement. It kind of was how I saw my passion of what I love to do, like a hobby. I seen where it could be like a business and I was like, it always stuck in my head even after I left that. But I just loved how the organization was ran. So you know, and I still, that's she's the person that owns that place, is still one of my mentors to this day. So I'll say about 10 years ago, because we're going to be 10 years in August. I said, I know, thank you. I was like, it's time to, I want to do this on my own. And I thought like, you know, because most of the customers we had at that time when I worked at the hair augmentation studio were Caucasian affluent women. I was like, I should do this for like African American women. I noticed like just in the industry of like hair, a lot of black owned salons, like they didn't stick to appointment times. It wasn't like really run like an organization. Like I sometimes when I go to the salon myself, I would have an appointment at like 8 in the morning and I wouldn't leave to 8 o' clock at night. So it was like my entire Saturday was going to be, you know, stuck at the hair salon. So I was like, you know what, I want to have like a well run organization where people could buy quality hair extensions and have them installed by certified hair extension specialists. And normally when you go to cosmetology school you don't learn hair extensions. It's considered advanced training. So I had certified hair extension specialists and it was just like I want it to be like a one stop solution. So that's what we did. We opened up and it just started going from there. I also had a lot of celebrity clientele at the time, so that actually, you know, helped build my fan base a lot easier. And I guess that was also the time when Instagram and social media also started picking up. So my business, really, honestly, like, my fan base, my customer base was built off of Instagram. Like, you know, it was just like, it was crazy. People would fly in from, like, la, Atlanta, Texas. It was crazy. And then I would say, what's interesting? And I was. It was around, like, 2017, a lot of women that were experiencing a medical hair loss started to shop with us. I realized they had the same pain points as the original consumer I was looking to talk to, which was the African American woman. They wanted a private setting. They wanted high quality hair extensions. They wanted to look as realistic as possible. And now, like, I'll say, maybe within the last two to three years, a lot more trans women are coming to us because they feel like it's a safe space. One of my clients, her name is Jasmine Davis. She's an actress. She was recently on the television show the Shy. I think that kind of pushed us out to the trans community a lot more. But, yeah, oh, my gosh, there is.

So much good stuff here. I love it. One of the things that is coming up for me so clearly as I think about sort of us in business owner roles, is how you adapt to what you're seeing and what is happening in the market. You're like, okay, Instagram got us out there, and now your audience and your clientele is shifting and expanding. How do you notice that there is a need to shift your market? Or how do you sort of keep a pulse on the market and identify the shifts that you need to make?

Well, you know what I mean? I feel like I'm deep into my business. Like, sometimes I feel like, you know, like, more now. So I'm, like, getting out a lot more. But, you know, it's like I'm so deep into it that I know, like, almost every customer, you know, I have a really great relationship with my customer base. The thing is, like, when you're doing something every day, you start to notice patterns of the same conversation happening. The same type of people you're seeing, you know, they all have the same different type of characteristics. So, you know, I think our businesses are like that. I always tell everyone, like, you know what I say? I do a lot of consulting for, like, beauty brands, and I say, like, who is your customer? Everyone. Everyone always says, everyone's my customer. I was like, no, everyone can't be your customer. Let's like, niche down, you know, because that's where you're going to find. Even though you can serve everyone and they're going to be people outside of that come. That come to me. But once you talk to the. Your customer, you're going to never not have a customer.

It's so true. And sometimes it's scary to, like, go into those niches, but. And you can evolve and you invite more people. And something else that you. That, That I think is really awesome is that you are still deep in the business now. It's changing now, which I'm. I want to know more about in a second. But I think that there is. And I have been a part of this and I see this too, in my business, like, okay, you're working on the business and you're working in the business. And so when you say you're deep in the business, do you find yourself working in it or you're just. You're working on it, but you're deep, you're going deep and you're closely connected.

I think there has to be some type. Okay. So that's the thing, you know, like, everyone is saying that you have. You can't really work in the business. You have to delegate and you have to work on the business to see the growth. But I think you also still have to be in it. One of my greatest mentors I ever had, I love this, what she says. She says you always have to inspect what you expect. Even with the greatest employees, you always have to monitor what's going on, because if you step away, it might not be run exactly how you want it to be. And you never know exactly until you're. Unless you're like, deep into it, you know, like. Because even myself, I find that I'm going to always try to find shortcuts to make it easier for me. And then maybe sometimes the people I employ, they do the same shortcuts or they feel like, but they're missing some of the marks that I. We definitely need to have, like, you know.

Mm. So since you mentioned team, how do you stay connected to your team and guide them to follow the standards that you have and to, you know, there you've got protocols and you've got training and you've got a way of teaching people to do this. How do you ensure that the way is pulled through by team members?

Well, I think it's ongoing training. And honestly, I think I. I'm always big on hire. You have to Hire the right people. Like, so it's hard for me to hire someone that's new in the industry because at the level of excellence that we need, I need someone already highly skilled. And to be honest, most people on my team have been on my team for least eight years.

Okay.

It's like, it's. You know, it's like, it's. It. And then when we do add someone, it's always about hiring the right people. You know, like, I. People that even are better at what. What I'm doing than me. In.

In your industry, is it common for people to stay in the same place for eight years?

Yeah.

What are you doing there? What's happening that people want to stay and work at your company for so long?

I. I always. I say I wanted. I wanted to be like. Like, you know, it's not like, really a small business. We're like a small corporation. I want my team members to make six figures, seven figures. You know, there's no limit on what we can. We can do. You know, I think right now there has been a huge shift with the beauty industry. That's why I actually wanted to open up a cosmetology school, because I feel like, especially in trade, sometimes you learn the skill set, but you don't learn the business fundamentals. So where we're going to be unique is we're going to do, like, you're going to learn business planning. We're going to have you do your financial strategy so that you're set up for success. Like, you know, because when I started out, I had no clue what I was doing. Like, no, I had no idea. I just started learning things as I go. Like, business plan. I didn't even think about a business plan. I just said, no, no, I want to do this. And there were just things that happened. Like, I remember when I first started my company, my husband was like, well, you can't go over this amount per month. And I'm like, the amount he had given me was so low. I was like. But I was so determined. I was like, I'm gonna find a place. And I found two places under that amount. And it was actually great that he said that, because in my head, I could. I was like, I could do $5,000 a month. Like, you know, and, like, I wasn't thinking, like, financial strategy when I first started. So I think it's very important, especially in almost all trades, they don't really teach you the business fundamentals. And I think that's so important to set up for success, especially in the beauty industry. Most individuals are going to be freelancers anyway, so you need those skill sets and things.

You mentioned the school that you're opening. Tell us more about that.

Well, I'm super excited about it. One, because this idea has been in my head for my entire life. It's interesting, but I knew I wanted to open up a cosmetology school. And I said, you know what? I needed someone, a really great co founder because it can get hard. And I, you know, I was like, I don't know if I could do it, do it all over again by myself. So I reached out to someone who I really admire in the beauty industry. They were immediately on board, which I was surprised by. Like, they were immediately on board. Like, this is going to be amazing. They're really great at teaching individuals. They're already in the metaverse, teaching, like, lash extension, application, body contouring, and it was just like this happy marriage. And I'm really, really excited about the future.

Oh, my goodness. You are such an innovator. Okay, I love.

I'm really not. I. I wasn't even thinking about the metaverse. I'm a little old. Not. I'm. I'm a little old school. And I was like, what is the metaverse? I still. I was so, like, I'm just like, you got to get on it.

Like, I'm like, wait, so she's teaching in the metaverse? Like in the, the Facebook metaverse land or where? Metaverse.

Virtual reality. Like, virtual reality? Yeah. Wow. This is how. What right now? There are even doctors that are being trained in the metaverse right now. It's like a. Like, what is to come in this world is so crazy. So basically what we want to do is we want to have the first accredited cosmetology school that you could attend anywhere in the United States and get certified. They'll be with, like, you know, trained teachers and things like that, but they don't actually have to be with us. Like, the metaverse is crazy. Like, the metaverse, you can go to, like, you can go to the Versace store in the murder verse. Like, you can be at your home and be in like, the France Versace store, and then they could deliver a bag to you the same day. Like, it's like a whole new world that is like, just. She opened my mind to it and I was like, wow, this is amazing. I wasn't even thinking what she was thinking. I was like, this is great. It's new.

So, okay, so let's say we gotta break this down a Little bit more. This is phenomenal. You know, I just like what you're talking about. Delivery. When we were living in Chicago, I was able to pull up on my phone that I needed a new Apple pencil and it was there in like an hour. But you're talking about going shopping with. With goggles on. With an Oculus or the new Apple goggles?

The Oculus.

The Oculus. Okay. And then how does someone like. Are we talking about mixing color and.

Getting like, tell me that everything you could do. We haven't got to that part yet, but it's. You could do almost anything in virtual reality. It changes what you're looking at. It's not like you're actually in, like, you know, it's like you're not home, you're somewhere else. Yeah. So it's. It's really. It's really, honestly, like, kind of amazing and exciting. Like, I don't.

Part of me feels like if we were having the recording this episode in the metaphors, does it feel more real? Like. Oh, yeah, it does.

It does feel. If I don't know how to explain it, it feels very real. It's. It's real. Like, it's great. It's very real. It's like you feel like you're there and it gives you more, honestly, because a lot more people are now are like, more hands on. Like, you know, and you could get that hands on feeling. And I remember even me being in cosmetology school, I was kind of like, you know, shy. So I was like, not. I was afraid to show how I did things because, you know, I might have not have been skilled as everybody else. So I was holding back a lot where I think maybe not having people around you might help you more because you're in the comfort of your own home. Like, you know, so it's not so much where you're judging other people and like, oh, I can't. I don't want to even show how to do this because I'm. I know I'm doing it wrong. There's a huge, huge, huge new world out there with that metaverse. It's crazy.

Oh, my gosh. So I have participated in virtual reality before, but it is probably like five to ten, five, seven, I don't know. It's been years and I know it's come so far.

Yeah, it's changed. Like, as months go by, I'm like, wow, there's like Procter and Grip Gamble. They have, like, all of their brands have stores in the metaverse now, and they, like, did this huge rollout maybe just a year ago, and it's like, so bigger, so much bigger than it was then. So like, every month, things are like.

Just exploding every three days now as technology is evolving so fast that three days is the equivalent of like a year. Like, we are moving this fast, like, rocking and rolling.

Oh, boy. Definitely believe it. I definitely believe it.

So you have one business established. You've been running it for 10 years. You're getting ready to open up another really holistic, comprehensive, supportive, collaborative, innovative new type of cosmetology school. How do you do it all?

This is a lot. I'm very organized. I think, you know, a really great schedule. And it's also. Sometimes you do like, you can have imposter syndrome, but I'm really big on mindset. I don't know if you can see my sweater. This has, like, all the things you need for, like, a million dollar mindset. So, you know, like, it has, like, it's like you need. You need opportunities, you need to be generous, you need to be grateful. You have to have resilience, you have to have dedication, you have to have grit. So I think the world, like, there's so much opportunity out there, and you just have to take it. And I'm also big, you know, like, there's so many things. Even when we opened up the cosmetology school, I learned, like, I didn't know, like, I learned about a lady named Ann Malone. She was like, the first African American millionaire. She had a cosmetology school, like, in the 1900s, and she had, like, franchisees like, in the Bahamas and Canada. And I'm like, wow, I never heard about this person before. So there's so many things that probably happened that, you know, like, it makes me say, like, I can do anything. It's 2023. Like, if this person could do that in the 1900s is 2023. I can do anything.

Do you find yourself needing to rein in your ideas? Like, okay, I can do all these things, but how do you decide where to actually focus?

You know what it is? It's about sticking to the plan. And I, I've been saying this all year. This year, this year, I had so much success because I did not stray from the plan I have in place. Because, you know, like, you can just, every day you could find something new, Someone could contact me, this great marketer. Like, I could. I'm like, this sounds interesting. Let me sign up. It's like, no, we're. We're sticking to the plan that we have in place. Like for this year, my main goal was I want to be accredited and credentialed to do Medicare because, you know, like that medical hair loss market is really big and people don't even know this. But wigs is considered durable medical equipment. So you typically, private insurances, Medicaid, they all pay for wigs for someone that has a diagnosis of medical hair loss. So I'm like, I need to make sure, you know, like people don't even understand that it's crazy. So I'm like, I just want to, you know, just get more into that, become credentialized than anyone. Like, even if someone has like Medicare, they can come and get a wig. That was, that's very important to me for this year. My main goals, I'm going to stick to them. And this is the first year honestly that I've stuck to all, I haven't added anything new. And I don't care if it's like someone says, hey, I got this idea and we could make 2 million. Sorry, not right now. You know, just not right now. But it's also about, you know, just sticking to the plan that you have in place. Obviously sometimes, you know, like you can be doing something wrong. Like, you know, like if it's not working, obviously you can change and pivot. But I was so big on this year is like, I'm gonna stick to our plan that we have in place. I'm not going to add anything new, I'm not going to change anything and we're just going to just move. And just the growth we've seen is like amazing. Like it's amazing.

What just made you decide like, okay, this year we're sticking to the plan.

Because I can, we can be all, I can get all over the place. Just how you said, I'm a person. I feel like I can do anything. And there's in the beauty industry, I can go so many different avenues. Like, you know, I could be like, let me focus on my celebrity clients. Let's focus on doing like pop up shops and going to like the big festivals like Essence Fest or Bronner Brothers or, you know, like, let me focus on doing classes and going to schools and doing trainings and you know, it's like there's so many things that you could do and there's so many ways you can make money. But it's like I have to stick to the plan. These are the people that we want to serve. How can we serve them best? You know, how can we serve more of those people? And that's where I'm at right now.

And it has been beneficial.

It's been beneficial for just, even my personal life. You know, like, it's, you know, like, it's just like everything just works perfectly. I don't feel as stressed as I normally. Like, a lot of times I would be stressed and just have like this overload of, like, you know what? I just have to stay in bed for a day. I felt been so energized this whole year. And I'm like, I just even looked at our lists, like recently, and I was like, wow, we've accomplished everything that we said we were going to do and we're on pace to like, exceed the goals that we had. And it was interesting because the first quarter I was like, we went through like a rebranding, like, you know, making sure some, a lot of our marketing because we talked to so many different customers that we're talking to all of them in different ways and different communications. And I had hired a company and it was just like a really bad experience. And I was just like, oh, it was interesting because I couldn't let go. I knew I needed to fire the company, but I was just like, I have. I'm really big on research. So I was like, I've done the research. They're the perfect company. And I'm like, the deadlines kept missing. And I was just like, I cannot believe that we're first quarter. We're not going to have this done. And. And I'm like, here we are at what, starting third quarter that it's complete. I remember I was like, literally like crying. I was like, oh, my God, I can't believe I spent months thinking this was going to happen. And I, I should have been fired. But I was just hoping, like, you know, like my expectation in my head, I was like, okay, we have to re change the plan. I have to hire somebody else. It's not going to work. And it was actually one of the best things I did. It was just frustrating because it was like I had written out every single page, every landing page, all the copywriting, every picture, and it wasn't getting done the way I wanted to. And I was like, I can't even go through this again. I was like, to tell someone else exactly what I just went through. Like, you know, to go through it all over again from beginning. I was like, but it actually was like the best thing. I'm so, like, I've been so in love with our marketing, our email marketing, our social media marketing, our website I just love it now. And I'm like, sometimes there are mistakes you make and, you know, that's something I wanted that, but it didn't work out the way it needed to and I just, you know, had to figure out finding someone else.

I love that. So you're working the plan, we change it up. When I loved how you actually said in there, re change, like, not even one change, but we're going to change it again and we're going to reach it. Like, that was perfect. And now you're stepping into a new business. What made you realize that you have time for that now? Was it sticking to the plan? Is it creating that space? And actually, I also love how you said that I asked if the plan was working. You're like, well, yeah, it's, it's going well. But also for your personal peace of mind because we can be so revenue and business and growth focus. You're like, yeah, but life is good too. So that really resonated.

That's, no, that's super important because I feel like for a long time I've missed out on like, key moments in like, the people I love the most is life. Like, you know, it's like I, even if I was there, I wasn't like physically, mentally there. You know, it was like all this other stuff going on. But I do feel like, you know, like, I'm happy now. Like, business makes me happy, work life, you know, like, I think all entrepreneurs, like, it's like, this is what makes us happy. But I'm happy because I can be there for the people that matter the most, you know, the times that they need me the most. So I'm very happy. And honestly, I, I'm not even like overwhelmed or anything. I really am not. It's, I think it's important, especially if you do start something. Having a co founder I think is sometimes necessary because even with this business, I felt like a lot of times I was alone and, you know, it could get lonely and then, you know, like, you know, it could get lonely. So having someone that has the same goal but, you know, just a different approach and they have a different skill set, I think just makes it a lot easier. So I, I, I love it.

I love, in my photography business, I have a business partner as well. And it is so dreamy to have, like, we have different skill sets, we have different things that we're each naturally drawn to pay attention to and focus on. And it's such an incredible balance. Do you. And it's always just kind of worked for us. Do you have agreements or contracts that you've put in place to ensure, like, okay, this is how we're going to navigate if, if one day it didn't work for some reason.

We did. We do. I think that's, that's always important. Just because things, people change. And I was always, Honestly, you know, it's crazy things. I was always against having a business partner or. Because I always felt like I've seen this happen to people where they go into business with someone and then someone ups and like, takes the business or, like, you know, like, decides, you know, like, bad things happen. So I always thought it was. It just doesn't. It never. It never works. But I'm extremely, like, happy because, you know, like, when someone, you have a plan and then someone elevates it just by their ideas. I'm like, I wasn't even thinking about the metaverse. I was saying, let's just open up brick and mortar location. And like, I'm, I'm thinking, like, I was thinking very, like, you know, lower, lower revenue. Like, she brought an idea that, like, it's going to make 10 times the amount that I was thinking about.

So, you know, I have goosebumps every time you, you talk about it every time you're like, this is going to. Yeah, it's going to be big.

It's going to be big.

So you've got a couple of places where we can find you. Intriguing hair.

Yes.

And where is. Is the school up yet?

The physical location is not up yet, but it's going to be in Boston, Massachusetts. We're working on doing the technology aspect of it. Hopefully, if all things work out, it should be up and running maybe in, like, the next five months. My gosh. So I'm really excited about that. But everything that you can find me in all social media links, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, all under intriguing hair.

Perfect. And when the school opens, you're going to announce it on those platforms to.

Absolutely.

Okay, good. Because I am obsessed. I want to watch this unfold and I want to watch this just change the game.

Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Oh. What? As everything we've talked about, do you have any final thoughts or is anything bubbling up for you?

I'm excited. I'm thankful for the opportunity to talk to you. I love your platform about the Martin, Martin Day CEO, because, you know, it's just there's so many different avenues and ways that people are starting businesses, running businesses, that's all.

I love it. I adore you. I'm so pumped. Thank you for coming on the show. And everybody, check out intriguing hair in all the places.

Thank you.